THROUGH THE ICE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20234, 19 February 1934, Page 1

THROUGH THE ICE.

Bear of Oakland Batters Passage Out. United Press Assn.—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. NEW YORK, February 17. A report from Admiral R. E. Byrd, on board the Bear of Oakland, states that after several days’ manoeuvring, the ship managed to extricate itself from the ice pack and is now proceeding at full speed towards Little America. Hour- after hour Captain English steered first north-east and then southwest, and finally, last night, open water was seen, the passage being about half a mile wide. The Bear of Oakland made her way through slowly, never stopping, although at times she only moved an inch at a time. Many times she had to strike tfie ice with full force to break her way through, causing the vessel to tremble violently from stem stern. After an all-night struggle she emerged into fairly clear water. A report from Little America states that the moving of the necessary stores across the treacherous ice field is nearing a successful conclusion. With the exception of the aviation equipment, gasoline, coal for the houses, ana a few odds and ends, all the supplies have been transported safely to the second main cache on the eastern heights a mile and a half south of Little America. If the good weather holds, June expects that the deg teams and tractors will finish the moving in a few days, although the trail is becoming steadily worse. A tractor narrowly escaped disaster when a crevasse three feet wide and sixty feet deep suddenly appeared in front of it. Shortly afterwards the seven leading animals of a dog team dropped into a crevasse and hung dangling by their harness. They were pulled out by the drivers after a struggle. ’